To raise money for the California Boy Scout Troop 120, local and global children, the California Kiwanis teamed up with the troop to host the Annual Pancake and Sausage Breakfast held Saturday, March 17.

"With Kiwanis having its Annual Pancake and Sausage Breakfast," Dr. Peter Kurowski, Kiwanis president said, "we thought it would be good to work with the scouts. Over the years we have had a good relationship so this year we asked the scouts to help out with advance tickets and to help with serving. We are delighted they were enthused about joining us and making the job a little easier for us."

Kurowski said half of the proceeds went to the scouts, with 10 percent going to Project Eliminate, a worldwide project eradicating Maternal Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) in third world countries. The other 40 percent raised went to help local children in the area.

Photo by John Inman

Active Kiwanis members who helped serve pancakes, sausage and eggs, from left, are Jean Endsley, Larry Kent and Jack Albertson.

Troop 120 Scoutmaster Scott Jobe said the troop was happy to help out the Kiwanis club, a sponsoring organization for them. He added it was good for the scouts to get out and mingle not only with peers, but with elders too.

"One day these scouts will be out in the work force," Jobe said. "They are going to need to know how to act and talk to people. Plus it gives us a chance to give back to the community. Some of the troops even had to leave because they were also helping out at the Food Bank. We try to be out in the community helping where we can."

Kurowski said the synergies of the two groups work well together and as they work together can get a lot accomplished. Coming together and seeing the community support each other is a great thing according to Kurowski.

"There is just a really good feeling of accomplishment when you know one act helps up to four causes," Kurowski said. "The Boy Scout troop gets help, in the community people get a good meal and fellowship and then the money helps local children and other children around the world."

Going forward the Kiwanis have two events coming up, June 16, there will be a Bike Run to help raise money for local youth and to send veterans on the Missouri Honor Flight and later in the summer there will be a Cow Drop drawing. For more information about the Kiwanis, call Kurowski at 573-796-2735.

Troop 120's future plans for the year include a campout in two weeks to clean up around Buckhorn Trail in Prairie Home, summer camp and a New Mexico hiking trip.

"We try to teach the troops leadership skills," Jobe said. "We try to pair off older scouts with younger scouts so they that camaraderie. We have 26 children in our troop right now and could always use more."

For more information about the Troop, call Jobe at 573-796-5685. Jobe also invited those interested in checking out the scouts to come to their weekly meeting Monday nights at the Richard A. Schroeder Scouthouse located in Proctor Park, California.

With both organizations focused on community service the Kiwanis are a natural progression for Boy Scouts to serve in other ways as they grow into adults.

Both Kurowski and Jobe said the support of the community for the breakfast was great with much of the food donated and many more coming out. They added both organizations greatly appreciate all the support they received.